postcards from sabbatical – week 14

I knew when I got back to Indiana I would keep walking through this sabbatical. I imagined I would hike the parks of our city, county, and state.

Instead, I have felt led to walk very close to home. I am called to the streets of the neighborhood that we have chosen to focus on for Faith’s community engagement. We plan on working closely with Binford Redevelopment and Growth (BRAG), so we settled on their boundaries for our attention. (Sargent Road on the east, 82nd Street on the north, Dean Road on the west and 56th Street and Fall Creek Road on the south.)

In keeping with Faith’s “get out of the parking lot” mentality and the call of Jesus to be out on the road like the good Samaritan, and feeling pumped by the miles I got under my feet in Greece and Colorado, I put on my courage and started walking the streets of our community looking for blessing.

The area begins just three blocks from my home. The challenges begin quickly. The sidewalks disappear almost immediately. This is one of the major concerns that surfaces from community leaders. It makes walking scary and dangerous. Not good for school children, the elderly, people trying to get healthy, bicyclists, or anyone not able to commute in a car.

I have a choice, though. And I choose to keep walking. I want to see and know where our neighbors live and work.

I’m not sure how this trek will resolve. I know it won’t end when the sabbatical is over. That’s just fine, though. I always knew that this sabbatical was just part of the journey, not a journey that would end.

Blessings for the journey,
Charlotte

All this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in Christ Jesus. When we trust in Christ, we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go…Be proud! – Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, chapter 3.